Thursday, June 24, 2010

Scapa 16yr

Scapa 16yr
Abc stock # 006033, $69.90
www.scapamalt.com

The Scapa 16yr is 40% alc/vol. The bottle states ‘Aged in Orkney for 16 years this golden malt delivers sweet and silk-smooth heather-honey taste perfectly balanced with delicate spice’. The bottle has a snazzy sailboat (or is that a schooner?) stamped in the glass.
Seeing as how I have a good bit of tasting to do this evening, my buddy Tyler will be lending a hand.
Nathan: The color is a light golden honey color. It smells a bit floral and spicey, with a tad hint of honey. It has a slight peat smell if you breathe in deeply. It flat out ‘smells’ smooth.

Tyler: It smells like my fireplace and some straw. I couldn’t quite place it at first, it kind of smelled like fresh dirt (not the band), so I went and sniffed some of Amy’s stoneware, and it wasn’t quite right. Then I thought of bricks (not Tom), and went into the living room, and there it was. Bricks and old smoke. Not that this is terribly smoky scotch, but it has some of the same notes. Also some honey? I’ll taste it shortly.

Nathan: Tasting it straight, it is smooth. Mild honey. It doesn’t numb your mouth as most will do, but it steps it up a notch down the gullet. After a few seconds, the finish has some spice. It reminds me of the American Honey bourbon, albeit thinner and much smooth.

Tyler: On the tongue, it starts off really smooth, almost too subtle, but then burns once it gets to the esophagus. Not a huge fan of it neat, but maybe some ice or distilled water will open it up some.
Nathan: Iced…it doesn’t require cooling to drink. As I said, it’s very smooth and pleasing. It does, however, dull down aroma a good bit, but also helps bring out the Heather in the finish.

Tyler: Iced…it doesn’t help much. It cools the burn, to be sure, but I think it takes most of the flavor away, leaving just a bit of sweetness on the tongue. Where Nate gets more “heather-y”aroma out of it right after the ice has been added, I just get more of an “alcohol-y” smell (And who is Heather?). I doubt I’ll drink this on the rocks again. It’s too “wintery” for icing down, and a bit too rough for me to drink neat when it’s this hot out. Maybe distilled water will do the trick. Nathan: Diluted: 1oz scotch, 1/2oz distilled water….., it seems that any sort of straight dilution takes away from this Scotch. I think much of the aromas are gone, except for the spice. The honey still lingers in the finish, but mostly I get the heather and spice.

Tyler: Nope. Distilled water did almost exactly what you might expect, given the previous two tastings. It brought out the “alcohol-y” smell again, and removed most of the taste. It landed on the heartburn scale right between “neat” and “on the rocks”.

Will I drink this again? Sure! Will I buy it? Probably not. I just feel like there are other scotches out there that fit my tastes better at this time. Maybe as my palette develops, however, I’ll gain an appreciation for it.
Nathan: Overall, I’m slightly disappointed. For the price, I somewhat expected more. Maybe it’s the heat and humidity this time of year in Virginia, but this isn’t something that I think I’d enjoy frequently right now. As Tyler said, it’s probably better mixed/blended. Maybe once it’s much colder out, and the wood stove is slow roasting me, I’ll try it again. For some reason, after a few minutes, I feel like the Scapa has a bit of citrus in it. We may try it again at Christmas time, with some orange peel candies. For science!

Tyler: I don’t think we’re going to get to it tonight, but if I felt like spending a few dollars at a bar for a single malt, this might make a decent Scotch and Soda. Purists out there screaming at your computer monitor can simmer down. I enjoy a scotch and soda, and like someone on pipes.com said to me once, “if you enjoy it, you’re doing it right.” It’s something I can just get through without thinking too much about, like my high school math classes.

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